Hirings approved for Fort Smith customer service staff

At-Large Position 6 City Director Kevin Settle makes a comment during the Fort Smith Board of Directors regular meeting Tuesday. 
(NWA Democrat-Gazette/Thomas Saccente)
At-Large Position 6 City Director Kevin Settle makes a comment during the Fort Smith Board of Directors regular meeting Tuesday. (NWA Democrat-Gazette/Thomas Saccente)

FORT SMITH -- The city Utility Department's customer service program received a boost on Tuesday to continue helping residents.

City directors unanimously approved hiring seven full-time employees for the program through this year during its meeting Tuesday. A total of $265,000 was allocated, with $212,000, or 80%, coming from the Utility Department and the remaining $53,000, 20%, coming from the Sanitation Department.

Utility Director Lance McAvoy said the new positions, which include six customer service representatives and a customer service representative supervisor, will allow the department to maintain the same level of customer service. He made a request for the positions during the board's study session March 9.

McAvoy said on March 9 if the request was approved, the customer service program would be restructured and have 19 full-time employees, with the seven new employees each being used where they are needed within the program. They would cost the city more than $300,000 annually.

"This staff, again, is not just for the call center," McAvoy said on Tuesday. "This is to cross-utilize and cross-train the personnel so if we have shortages, we can meet the needs and demands of the city's customers."

One aspect of the customer service program is the Utility Department's call center. The volume of calls made to this center is expected to increase when the department reinstates water meter shut-offs for customers who haven't paid their bills on March 30, according to McAvoy. McAvoy expressed the need for additional customer service representatives to set up payment plans, take calls to reconnect service, and handle questions related to the shut-off process.

The department suspended disconnections in March 2020 as the covid-19 pandemic took hold.

McAvoy has said additional customer service representatives could also handle calls made to other city departments who have "expressed a need and opportunity for call center support." Examples include the Parks, Streets, Purchasing and Finance departments, with the Sanitation Department being one already using of the call center.

At-Large Position 6 City Director Kevin Settle said before a decision was made he wanted the city to think about "innovative ways" to reduce the call center, and by extension, expense to the city, while still giving customers what they want.

At-Large Position 7 Director Neal Martin in response to Settle's comment argued in favor of the city being proactive to reduce the need for somebody to call in to the call center.

Ward 3 Director Lavon Morton concurred with Settle and Martin. To him, one of the major steps in reducing the number of people required at the call center would be to decrease the number of water leaks and ensure utility bills are accurate.

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